Today was a hot, sunny day sailing. We had some trouble getting started this morning. The stop button in the engine seems to be getting sticky. When we shut the engine off in the cock pit, the shut off switch in the engine room likes to stay put. So when we went to turn on the engine this morning, it turned and turned but didn’t quite get started. It was a sinking feeling, thinking that we would be stuck in the harbor of Attwood Harbor where there isn’t a business or sign of man lived there in the last 20 years. Finally Runyon and Ivy, looking around the engine room, realized the shut off button was still turned down there and switching it back, the engine started right up.
We had neighbors last night too! Sailing neighbors, a nice change from the gawdy power boats and yachts we’ve been seeing. We started off after them this morning with our engine trouble, and ended up passing them by midday. By 3 PM we were approaching our anchor sight off the Northwest Point of Mayagunna and the two sail boats were so far behind us we could just make them out at the horizon line. Ghost makes good time, she is also twice the length of either boat. Island Dream and Tango are their names.
Island Dream is a nice couple from Louisiana. They have had seven boats and seem to like to travel off season. They have been to many places and are heading to the DR. I think their names were Darla and Pete.
Tango is also a friendly couple from Argentina. Luisa and Carlo. Luisa speaks a good amount of English, Carlo seems to understand but not speak so much.
When the two boats rolled into the harbor about an hour after we had secured our anchor- we have made it habit to dive on our anchor, or at least swim out to it make sure it’s secure, this helps us all sleep better at night knowing we won’t drag. We went over and helped the other two boats with their anchors, this spot is sandy with lots of coral and rocks. I hate to see our chains swing, disrupting the coral life. Ivy and I were checking on Tango’s anchor when Luisa told us that yesterday while we were leisurely getting some exercise swimming in Attwood Harbor, a shark had been following us. The sweet woman had jumped into the water to distract the shark from us, and did a good job because soon the shark was under her. She laughed while she shouted off her boat down to us in the water that she had been scared. The thought makes swimming a little bit of a nervous now. Sadly, once we get to the DR, we won’t be able to swim off the back of the boat any how, though there is a beach close by.
I’m not sure how long they, Island Dream and Tango, have been traveling together but we may hear more about them tomorrow since we are all heading to Abraham Bay for, perhaps, the weekend. Chris Parker has predicted some bad weather coming up, advising us all over the radio that we should try to make it to Turks and Caicos by Sunday or wait.
Have I mentioned the mosquitoes for the past few nights have been murderous? They swarm right at sun down when it starts to cool off. They were so bad today that we actually took dinner inside! It wasn’t even raining outside, the mosquitoes were just too much to bare. Ivy and Runyon braved it while they grilled some chicken off the back of the boat, but seemed to have had enough by the time they pulled those birds off the fire.
The other night while we were anchored at Conception, we toss the innards of a chicken overboard after dinner, within seconds a shark had swallowed it down and was out of sight. A swift, yet much smaller shark darted around the picked up all the smaller pieces. Tonight we all braved the bugs to see if we attracted an sharks with our chicken bones. But all we saw was a 6 foot barracuda who had been hanging out around our boat from earlier. He swam through the bits of chicken bones, seeming to chomp on them but not swallow. Then a hand full of smaller fish came and enjoyed our other veggie scraps.
Just at that moment, the moon was rising over the land and the sky was beautifully pink. On the other side of the boat, the sun had already set but the clouds looked majestic and the sky was romantic shades of pink of and purple. I was able to snap a few shots before the mosquitoes chased me back inside.
Moon Rising
Sun setting
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